Bad news for anyone who had been waiting to snap up the all-electric Tesla Model X this year, as the company is putting production on hold for yet another 12 months.
According to Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, the delay is partly due to the fact that he is "a perfectionist when it comes to product design" and that the challenge of building an off-roader that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing is much greater than that of designing a standard road-going car.
This is the second time that production has been pushed back. The concept version of the Model X, complete with falcon-wing rear passenger doors, was unveiled in February 2012 and production was first slated for 2013, as was a price-tag of $49,000.
However, in the meantime, the company has been busy building a supercharger network -- which allows drivers to recharge their Tesla batteries free of charge -- and launching the Model S in Europe and China.
And of course, as many publications have recently reported, the company has also been busy meeting with Apple. In an interview with Bloomberg, Musk confirmed that the rumors were true and that the two companies had indeed met but he denied that the meeting was to discuss the terms of Tesla's acquisition.
"If one or more companies had approached us last year about such things there's no way we could really comment on that. We had conversations with Apple, I can't comment on whether those revolved around any kind of acquisition," he said.
Steve Jobs, Apple's late great co-founder and the person to whom Musk is most commonly compared to for his disruptive approach and high-tech vision, loved cars and had dreams of eventually making an Apple car.
Musk said that if Apple was to go into automotive production that it would be a great idea but also stressed that Tesla would only consider selling itself if the deal would ensure the company's ultimate goal: building an affordable mass-market electric car.
